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The Reading Fever is hosting a year-long readalong of the Harry Potter series. Here are the discussion questions for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

1) Do you have a favourite scene or line in Goblet?
If I had to choose a favourite scene or line in Goblet, it would have to be the scene at the end of the book when Hermoine was able to get her revenge on Rita Skeeter, with Rita in a glass jar.

2) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opens in Tom Riddle, Sr.'s parents' home, unlike the previous three books which opened in the Durseleys' home. This chapter is most unusual in the Harry POtter canon, in that it is not told from Harry's viewpoint. How does the change of setting for the beginning of this book affect the tone of the book? Why do you think Rowling departed from the expected setting for the beginning?
It affects the tone of the book in that you find out that Voldemort is a half-blood, not the pure-blood wizard that he so clearly admires. I also think tha…

I admit I totally forgot about a challenge or very nearly did. And yes its the one that the photo is promoting.
I am going to participate, but I need to read books that aren't Victorian, as I have to read something for a book club meeting early in the month and I have a book I need to read for a book tour, but knowing me, I am going to get at least one or two Victorian books done.
I plan on completing:
• Alice Adventure's in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
• Anna Karenina
• Middlemarch
You can sign up here: http://aliteraryodyssey.blogspot.ca/2012/03/victorian-celebration-sign-up-post.html Good luck.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

It really depends. Sometimes I will look it up the word, but sometimes I will not look it up; it really depends on the circumstances. If the word intrigues me, I will likely look it up, but if it doesn't, I will probably not look it up.

Wow, what a difference. I am continually amazed at how much I am now able to get myself to read at the moment. Its like I have hit a burst and am loving reading again. I think part of its that I have books that I do need to read under control (or at least the schedules of those books somewhat under control) and its also because I am finally getting used to a schedule that I am not used to. And I am finally getting the books and materials that I have checked out from the library under control and know which ones I am going to want to read and not expecting myself to read everything that I have on my shelf. I also think its partly due to the fact that I know summer is coming closer and I know what my schedule is going to be like and therefore I can plan what I allow myself to get from the library and which materials I am going to suspend (or letting myself to do such a thing).

Maybe I think that part of the fact that I felt that I couldn't get anything done is that I felt over…

Description:Isabella, Mary and Lauren's friend Kristi is engaged and they are all bridesmaids. Despite being happy for their friend, by the sixth shower they are really sick of celebrating her. Saturday after Saturday they coo over toaster ovens and deep fat fryers. They collect wrapping paper and ribbons, tying them to paper plates. But beneath the toasting and clapping, we see these women struggling amid the celebration. Isabella dreams of quitting her job at a mailing list company, where she's both extremely successful and wildly unhappy. Mary falls deeply in love, realizing too late that her new mother-in-law is really her husband's favorite. And Lauren, single and adrift, finds herself drawn to a man she's pretty sure she hates. (via British Columbia Libraries)

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce @ AT Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

Because it was the long weekend here in Canada last weekend (Victoria Day), I went to spend sometime at my parents place near Kamloops, BC at a ski resort called Sun Peaks. Its a nice little place that fills up with tourists from around the world during the winter and summer months (there are a lot of Germans who come for the ski season due to a German hotel chain having a hotel there). Its filled with fun shops and lots of places to have coffee. The nice thing about the place is that there are no big chain stores in the area (that means no Tim Hortons (if you are Canadian or spend time in Canada, you know what I mean) or Starbucks or the like, but they do have a couple of stores that have location…

Honestly, I just write it. I know that I might turn some people off with the writing from a negative review, but I want my reviews to reflective of who I am as an individual and if I don't like a book, I will mention that. Its not that I don't care for the book, its just that I don't like the book and if the book review is negative, I personally don't care. And yes, I do understand that a negative review will impact on my readers, but when I write a review, I like to be honest.

If an author doesn't like the review, then I figure they have to grow thicker skin. Not everything I read and review am I going to like and authors need to realize that fact.

Description: Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families.

Thoughts: This is one of my favourite plays but for some strange reason, this took me awhile to actually read. Part of it had to do with the fact that I didn't feel like reading and that I had other things to read in the meantime. Anyways, I quite enjoyed it and still remains one of my favourites. I think what struck me was how complex the play is and even though I have seen the Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes version of the play (yes, I realize that its a modern version of the play) on a number of occasions (yes, I did see it when it came ou…

This is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll be reading next?

Answers:
1) What are you currently reading?
• The Descendants
• Alice Adventure's in Wonderland
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Girls in White Dresses
• The Devil in the White City
• Les Miserables

2) What did you recently finish reading?
• The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake (review)

3) What do you think you'll be reading next?
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Waiting for Columbus

This month the topic was Literary Movement. And the book I chose was Alice's Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

The literary movement that this book is written from is Victorianism. I tried to find something else that would describe the book more closely to what the book is, which I would place is Fantasy, but couldn't really find anything within a specific literary movement that would describe the book. The values and ideals of the book that I can ascertain from reading what I have read is that somehow having an imagination or going to a place of imagination was not exactly idealized and the book talks a lot in metaphor. Also the emergence of the notion of one having a "childhood", where one can dream about things that are not possible in the adult world. Some of the other writers from this era are Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters, Mark Twain, Thomas Hardy, among others.

Have no clue as to why this is going up when there is still one more Tuesday left in the month on May, but since I don't run the meme, I don't really have any say, now do I? Anyways, since I haven't done this for a couple of months, I am going to be putting up those books that I have completed since the end of March. It hasn't exactly been productive since then; haven't read much and therefore haven't completed much. I haven't been able to read much for some reason; partly it had to do with the fact that my e-reader was on the fritz and partly it has to do with the fact that my life has been in upheveal and no routine has been exactly established since the end of March and also due to the fact that I have been watching videos for the past few months. All basically to say that I haven't read much and completed much.

Reviews:
1. The Language of Flowers (review)
2. The Hound of the Baskervilles (review)
3. The Winter Palace (review)
4. The World of Do…

Depends on the book. If its a novel, I usually check the page count and to see if there is any table of contents. When it comes to non-fiction books, I usually check any photos and I also check the page count as well.

Sorry this is so late. Had a much better week in regards to my reading. While I didn't really read that much on Monday, I was able to read quite a bit on Tuesday and even though I haven't read as much as I had on Tuesday or Wednesday, I have been thinking a lot about reading and books a lot more and am more inclined to read now on a regular basis. While it may take some more time to get me reading on a regular basis, I have feeling that I have gotten over the hump in regards to my reading.

While I haven't finished a regular adult novel, I am feeling much better in regards to my reading and am hoping that this week I can get some more done.

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce @ AT Home With Books.
Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don't post random photos that you find online.

If you are wondering what that is, its the Starbucks Gold Card and I got mine this past week. I am looking forward to using it sometime soon.

Didn't read as much as I did yesterday (Thursday), but I am slowly getting into a groove of reading on a more regular basis. The reason that this is significant is because I haven't really read for the past few months (at least since the end of February) and I am really starting to find my groove again and am actually looking forward to reading again and not feeling its like a chore.

Read a bit of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and started Devil in the White City and have gotten almost half-way through The Descendants, of which I am seeing a lot of the movie as I read it. I know I have to update what I am reading segment on my blog, but because I haven't really paid too much attention to that part of my blog, I haven't updated it. I am thinking I may just go and see if I can finish The Descendants before I head to sleep tonight (its an easy enough read that if I go and get something to drink, I think I can get it done, but then I can probably finish it tomorro…

I don't know how many pages I read today, as I read a number of my books on my e-readers (yes, I have two) and because they don't have pagination like in a tradition paper book copy, I couldn't say exactly how many pages I did read. But I probably read close to about 2 and a half hours, as I read the majority of the books with audio versions while reading the words on the "pages".

I am also going to do some reading this evening while I am watching stuff on Food Network...

I probably own somewhere between 250 and 300 books. Some have been read and most haven't, but I am hoping in the next few years I can read them and because some of them I really don't need to have, I am going sell them off to a second-hand store and get some much needed cash (I don't tend re-read a lot of my books).

A bit better reading day today. Still didn't read much, but I did manage to read about 63 pages out of The Descendants (I restarted the book) and read for at least a couple of hours. And funny enough, I started thinking about what else to read. I think I am starting to get out of my reading funk and I think this readathon was the thing that I just needed (well, it didn't help that I spent a few days watching Grey's Anatomy and I find that bunch of characters a little too whiny for my liking, especially Meredith). Anyways, I had a good reading day and I hope to read some more tomorrow afternoon and maybe get a book done.

I haven't read a lot the past couple of days, but I am really trying to read at least something. I am going to read for a little bit, after I make myself some tea, before I go to sleep. Hope you all have a good evening. I will update about this time tomorrow.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and Bookish, where book bloggers share their Top Ten lists on everything bookish. This week its a freebie, so I am going to do Top Ten Books I loved but never wrote a review for.

10. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson - Read this book the summer after I graduated high school and just loved it. I loved the story of a lost love and war and a murder trail. The movie that came out a few years later was one of the few movies that really captured the book wonderfully and stayed pretty true to the premise. And living out here on the West Coast, the internment of Japanese-Americans and Japanese-Canadians is still a real prescence, not only because it happened about 70 years ago, but also because I have a family connection (my mom's sister's husband's family was interred somewhere in the BC Interior during the war). 9. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - I first read this book for my Grade 12 English class and my t…

This week's choice:The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Originally published January, 2007 The sun is shining, mynah birds are chattering, palm trees are swaying, so what. I'm in the hospital and I'm healthy. My heart is beating as it should. My brain is firing off messages that are loud and clear. My wife is on the upright hospital bed, positioned the way people sleep on airplanes, her body stiff, head cocked to the side. Her hands are on her lap.

* Grab your current read* Open to a random page* Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)* Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!﻿

The sun is shining, mynah birds are chattering, palm trees are swaying, so what. I'm in the hospital and I'm healthy.

Description (from book): Telling is faithful dog to make sure nobody touches his clothes but him, a cowboy jumps into a New Mexico river for a bath, not realizing just how much the scrubbing will change his scent.

Thoughts: I read this book due to some news that this book had been removed from district's two elementary schools in The Annville-Cleona School District in Pennsylvania. And honestly, I didn't see anything wrong with it. Since its a children's book, everything that needs to be covered up is covered up. While it didn't blow my mind away, it was a wonderful story about a cowboy who got dirty and when he noticed his own stench, he decided to take a bath.

Honestly, I don't see what the one parent thought that the book needed to be banned from two elementary schools and w…

I haven't done this awhile, but when this popped up on my email feed, I knew I had to do it (I apologize to those of you who follow me on twitter and facebook for the multiple blog posts; Mondays can be a heavy blog posting day).

This week, Crazy for Books asks:

Who is your favourite book character?

Honestly, I don't know if I do have a favourite book character, but if I had to choose one it would have be Emma Woodhouse. The reason being is that while she has the best of intentions of doing good for her friends, she messes things up and has things blows up in her face, but somehow she keeps trucking on and learns from her mistakes, almost like the rest of us.

Hope you have a good rest of the week and I hope to post something up on Friday, when the new hop is available.

It's Monday! What are you reading? is a fun weekly meme hosted by Shelia at Book Journey where we share what we've read and reviewed over the past week and what we plan to read next.

What I am planning on reading this week:
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Henry V
• Romeo & Juliet
• Bleak House
• Anna Karenina
• Les Miserables
• Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
• Waiting for Columbus• Girls in White Dresses• The Descendents• A Game of Thrones(the books above are for Bout of Books)

What I reviewed this week: Nothing What I plan on reading next: • Wonderland Creek • The Concubine Saga (ARC)

Do you tend to read to the end of the chapter or can you stop anywhere?

It really depends on the book, but for the most part I really try to read to the end of the chapter. I find it just leaves on the right note when reading, but sometimes depending on the situation, I do have to stop in the middle of a chapter when reading and it annoys me to no end!

It's that time again. I love this challenge for a variety of reasons, one being that you can read as little or as much as you want to. And it lasts about a week, which allows me not only to get some books done, but it's also a short enough time frame to not make it drag out for months on end.

Anyways, I have a few books books that I would like to get done or worked on during this time:
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Waiting for Columbus
• Girls in White Dresses
• The Descendents
• A Game of Thrones
• Bleak House
• Anna Karenina
• Henry V
• Romeo & Juliet
• Les Miserables
• Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass

I realize that there are a lot of books on this list, but a number of these books are books that I can read a number of chapters in a short amount of time, especially a number of the classics that I have on my list. But also a lot of books on my list is that I am already reading. Hopefully I will get enough time when my mom is around and I…

First off, Happy Mothers Day to the mom's that read my blog on a regular basis. I hope you have a wonderful day with your kids and hope you get a wonderful book from your kids or maybe allowed to spend the day reading.

To say my mom has been influential in my reading is an understatement. She was the one that taught me how to read and the one that took me to the library when I needed to go when I was a kid. She has always been the one that is interested in what I am reading and likes discussing whatever I have read. Somehow she also finds something book related that I will like. Like this:

She is the reason that I read on a regular basis.

Reviews:
None this week, but I am hoping to have something this coming week.

This is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions:
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll be reading next?

Answers:
1) What are you currently reading?
I am actually quite a few books. Some of them include The Sisters Brothers, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Alice in Wonderland, among others.

2) What did you recently finish reading?
• The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes (review)

3) What do you think you'll be reading next?
I am going to start Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking.

The last couple of days I have felt little or no motivation to read and yesterday (Friday) I didn't really read anything, save for a few articles on the theglobeandmail.com. Its not that I don't like to read, in fact I love to read, but for some strange reason I feel little motivation to do any sort of reading. While I have finished two books this past week, I have really found little pleasure in reading this past week. It kinda feels like the books I am reading are a bit blah and I really am not enjoying them as much as I should.

I realize that this is just a phase and that I will somehow get through it and I will be able to get through it. It just seems that when I get home from work, I can't get myself to read. Now part of this is due to the fact that I was watching all of season 1 of Game of Thrones on Tuesday and Wednesday and just came off of Season 2 of Downton Abbey the previous week, but I feel little or no motivation to do any reading at all. Of course I …

Description: A lavish look at the real
world--both the secret history and the behind-the-scenes drama--of the
spellbinding Emmy Award-winning Masterpiece TV series Downton AbbeyApril
1912. The sun is rising behind Downton Abbey, a great and splendid
house in a great and splendid park. So secure does it appear that it
seems as if the way it represents will last for another thousand years.
It won't.
Millions of American viewers were enthralled by the world of Downton Abbey, the
mesmerizing TV drama of the aristocratic Crawley family--and their
servants--on the verge of dramatic change. On the eve of Season 2 of
the TV presentation, this gorgeous book--illustrated with sketches and
research from the production team, as well as on-set photographs …

Do you have siblings? Do they like to read?
I have one sibling, a younger sister. I know she does read but not with the same sort fervor as I do. I don't really know if she likes to read, but I assume she does because she has read when there really isn't anything else to do.

This is a weekly book meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions...
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you'll be reading next?

2) What did you recently finish reading?• The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (review)
• The Winter Palace by Eva Strachniak (review)

3) What do you'll be reading next?
I possibly will be starting Quiet by Susan Cain and Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan this coming week. I will be starting Book 4 of the Harry Potter series this coming weekend.